Frequently asked questions

What is a permit lead?

When someone pulls a building or trade permit, the city publishes that record openly. A permit lead is one of those records, sorted into a trade and shown to you. It tells you work is about to happen at an address, and roughly what kind. It is a timing signal, not a request for a quote.

Did the homeowner ask to be contacted?

No. Nobody on the permit board has asked to hear from a contractor. These are public records that exist whether or not Lead Blueprint does, and the same data is free to anyone who looks — including contractors who have never heard of us. Treat every permit lead as an open lead.

Which cities do you cover?

Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Mississauga, Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Oakville, Halifax. Calgary includes the four separate trade datasets (electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical/HVAC) as well as building permits, which is why plumbing and HVAC work shows up there in volume. We add cities as we can verify their data properly.

Where does the permit data come from, and can I rely on it?

Every permit comes from the issuing city's own open data portal, published under that city's open data licence. Each city is credited, with a link to its licence, at the bottom of this page and on every permit. The cities provide the data as-is, and so do we: records can arrive late, be incomplete, or be corrected after publication, so confirm the details with the city before you rely on them. Every permit page links to the city's own record so you can check it. Lead Blueprint is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these cities.

What does “Contractor already named” mean?

It means the permit record names a firm already working that job — so that trade is likely spoken for. Most trade permits are pulled by the contractor doing the work, so this is common and we label it rather than dressing it up as an opening.

These are often the betterlead, just not for the trade on the permit. A named builder on a new house still needs the trades they don't do themselves, and the card shows you who they are. The label reflects what is on that city record, which can lag behind reality.

What does “No contractor named” mean?

The city publishes a contractor field for that permit and it is empty — so as far as the record shows, nobody holds the job. These sort to the top of the board. Where a city doesn't publish that field at all, the label reads “Contractor not published” instead. We never turn a missing field into a claim that a job is open.

Are permit leads exclusive to me?

No, and we can't make them exclusive. We don't limit how many contractors see a permit lead, and we couldn't stop someone outside the platform pursuing the same job even if we did.

Jobs posted on Lead Blueprint by a homeowner or business are different: those are capped at 3 contractors. That cap applies to posted jobs only, never to permit leads.

Why can't I see the street address until I sign in?

Because a permit address is usually somebody's home. The public board and search engines see the community or area only. The street address is shown to signed-in contractors who have accepted the permit terms, and it never appears in an email or on an indexed page.

The reason is simple: a resident should not end up with strangers at their door because of a listing they never asked to be on.

Do you show homeowner names or phone numbers?

Never. We don't show them, and we don't store them — applicant names and contact details are stripped before a permit is saved, including any that appear inside the permit's own description text. The firm names you see are businesses named on the record, never private individuals.

How accurate are the project values and scope lines?

They are estimates, and labelled as such. Declared permit values are what was filed with the city, not a budget or a quote, and some cities publish them inconsistently. Scope lines are inferred from the filing. Verify before you quote.

How should I make contact?

That is your call and your responsibility. We show no contact details and collect none, so anything you do happens on your own terms and under your own compliance — including Canada's anti-spam rules and any do-not-call obligations.

The cleanest approach is usually business-to-business: contacting the firm already named on a job about the trades it still needs. Door-knocking and addressed mail are also outside the electronic-message rules. Cold-calling and emailing a homeowner who never asked to hear from you is where contractors get themselves in trouble.

How often does the data refresh?

Every morning. New permits appear the day the city publishes them, and stale ones age off the board so you aren't working records from three months ago. You can also get new permits in your trades emailed to you — set up permit alerts.

Several permits at the same address show as one lead. Why?

Because they are one project. A new build files a building permit plus separate electrical, gas, plumbing and mechanical ones, which would otherwise appear as up to seven identical-looking cards. We group them by address and show the trades and firms involved across the whole project.